“There are certain birds, like the kite and the crow, that people disregard entirely and would never bother to criticize; it is precisely because the uguisu is usually held in such high regard that people find fault with it when they can.”

Sei Shonagon The Pillow Book

“what St. John Paul II reminded us so many years ago: that ‘There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us … on the far side of every cross we find the newness of life in the Holy Spirit … This is our faith. This is our witness before the world.’”

Eric de Meuse in Gilbert! The Magazine of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 27 #4 (March/April 2024)

“Angry people want you to see how powerful they are. Loving people want you to see how powerful you are.”

Chief Red Eagle, quoted in an email from a friend July 6, 2024 without further attribution [but it is widely available online and it seems that he's a real person who really did say it, William Weatherford/Red Eagle being born around 1765 (or 1780 or 1781), dying in 1824, and being a mixed-race Creek who fought American forces but was also a significant slaveholder in Alabama].

“We are incessantly told that past periods were very bad; and I cheerfully agree that they must have been most horribly bad, if they were really worse than the period we are asked to praise.”

G.K. Chesterton in G.K.’s Weekly January 18, 1930 quoted in “Chesterton for Today” in Gilbert: The Magazine of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 27 #3 (Jan.-Feb. 2024)

“The man who says there are no sexes or no nations fares simply and precisely like the man who says there are no chairs and tables. He falls over them.”

G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News November 8, 1913 quoted in “Chesterton for Today” in Gilbert! The Magazine of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 27 #4 (March/April 2024) [and yes, he gave this warning over a century ago, yet again proving eerily prescient]

“Fat constituted a menace to his own well-being, a charge that could be brought against many people.”

Philip K. Dick VALIS [re his alter ego Horselover Fat being locked up via a “‘danger to yourself’” law]

“Dear John,/ Achieve your goals and transform your life!/ Discover the ultimate eBooks designed to foster your personal growth./ Lead yourself on an expedition to greatness, and steer your career toward success./ Overcome procrastination and eliminate unproductive habits, paving the way to the success you deserve.”

Email from “Statista Special Content” June 19, 2024 [I was equally fascinated at the thought that some ultimate eBooks could work this magical transformation, and that they were convinced I deserved it without even having met me]

“For forms of government let fools contest:/ Whate’er is best administer’d is best:/ For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;/ His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right;/ In faith and hope the world will disagree,/ But all mankind’s concern is charity:/ All must be false that thwart this one great end,/ And all of God that bless mankind or mend.”

Alexander Pope “Essay on Man”